These were two definitive studies on money and beliefs, yet they lacked a few essential details –mostly demographics.

A third researcher, Klontz, designed a comprehensive study incorporating much of what Yamauchi, Templer, and Tang had established earlier, but he correlated his research with the all-important demographic data to substantiate and elaborate upon the earlier claims.

Klontz and his team came up with a list of 72 questions broken into eight concepts, and they surveyed individuals of varying ethnicity, income, and education levels.

Klontz and his team discovered exactly what they expected: education, income, and culture played a role in beliefs, and therefore, behaviors.

What Do Your Beliefs Mean?

If you believe money will solve all your problems, then you worship money. If you worship money, you’re likely to do anything it takes to get it. Even if it means hurting those you love. And you’ll likely use it to buy the things you want — things that show status.

If you believe money is the root of all evil, you’re likely to be satisfied with what you have and won’t be doing much to save for the future. You may not be in debt, but you may also lack a cushion for emergencies.

If you have a general mistrust surrounding money, you may not discuss it, or you may lie if you’re asked how much you earn. You may cheat to get more of it, believing that it’s something you’re owed.

When you think about your reaction to money issues, you’ll discover the core beliefs that define your financial approach.

People who live by the credo, “You can’t take it with you,” likely have little (if any) savings, and may even have too much debt because they feel no need to save for their future. These people may also be more reckless spenders — buying what they want because they feel as though they “deserve” it. According to Klontz, this behavior is most often exhibited in the young (and immature).

On the flip side, you’ll find that many people believe it’s important to save for rainy days, nest eggs, and emergencies. As a result, they tend to be better savers.

How Can You Change Your Beliefs?

Having a healthy set of money beliefs is key to nurturing healthy money habits. Yet, changing any belief requires constant practice.

Changing beliefs means shifting your point of view. Often, to change the way you see things, you must undergo some sort of emotional event.

For example, someone who wants to lose weight may have a hard time doing so until they go through an emotional trauma involving their weight, like a heart attack. Once threatened with death because of their weight, they’re able to see the importance of weight loss in a new light. It becomes something they want to do because they want to live a full life again.

However, you should never wait for tragedy to force you into new behavior. Instead, make it a point to practice every day until you see success at what you’re doing, then pile all of those successes on top of each other.

When you’re mindful of each purchase before you make it, or each time you save instead of spend, you’ll see your financial health continue to grow. Watching that growth is what will gradually shift your point of view. Your beliefs and behaviors will follow.

Record your habits. When you find yourself making good decisions, write them in a journal. Re-read them to remind yourself that you can do what you set out to do.

@Paul, I agree with you. There are so many miscnceptions people hold to about these days… Money is sweet. Lovely. Material things are too worldly to get people carried away from God, good point too..
I value this reasearch going on here about the beliefs of money but how is the research relevant to the change of this seemingly extravagant society?

The Bible doesn’t say “money is the root of evil”. Rather it says that the “LOVE of money is the root of evil”. It is the love of the material world at the expense of loving God that is the issue. I know this isn’t a spiritual website, but I had to make that distinction. To me, the goal is to be a high earning, productive and frugal person who isn’t self-centered. Unfortunately, I know too many people who loved money so much that they destroyed their families, or never had the time to start one in the first place.

I volunteer teaching financial literacy to high school students. I will use this article as part of an opening dialogue with the students to get them to start thinking about their beliefs about money. Info about budgeting, banking, and credit will mean more when put into different contexts.
Thanks for the article.

Money is power. I do not have much of it and it makes me feel vulnerable and I have to spend so much of my time and energy trying to get the money to feel more powerful.

I feel like I have to tread carefully with every step of my life because of the small amount of money I have. Any little trip or mistep and a financial setback will occur and I will loose what little security I have.

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